B.1 Individual Differences in Sport

Personality

• ‘The characterisation of individual differences’ (Wiggins, 1996). 

• It is considered that personality relates to the specific traits a person displays. 

• A trait is a characteristic, which can be related to a person, for example ‘laziness’. 

  • Therefore Peterson (1998) suggests that it is a combination of these traits which results in personality.

Social Learning Theory and Personality 

• Albert Bandura's Social learning theory is based on the philosophy that individuals can learn through observing and imitating the observable behavior of others. 

• Psychologist Albert Bandura and Robert Sears proposed the social learning theory as an alternative to the previous work of fellow psychologist B.F. Skinner was famous as a proponent of the behaviorist theory.

• According to Social Learning Theorists both cognitive and environmental factors interact to affect observable behavior and the learning process.

• In cognitive theory, Albert Bandura and Robert Sears agree with the behaviorist learning theories of operant conditioning and classical conditioning. 

• But, he adds two significant evolution process ideas in human learning behaviors:

  • In a human society, people learn behavior from the environment through the observational learning process;

  • Mediating processes take place between the stimulus and response

Competencies and Skills

• How we are perceived by others is influenced by our own feeling of competence. 

• Individuals can appear shy and introverted because they are not confident at carrying out a particular task or role.

• How you behave depends on the actual skills you have and whether you expect to be good at something.

• Context specificity – certain psychological structures relevant in one situation are not relevant in another.

• Psychological change – manner in which competencies are acquired.

Beliefs and Expectancies  

• Crucial component of psychological change and self-improvement. 

• Beliefs – relate to how the world is

• Expectancies – concern what an individual thinks will happen in the future; evaluating the worth and quality of an event.

• For change to occur, 3 personality factors must be addressed: 

  • how we see the world  

  • what we think will happen in the future  

  • what the world should look like

Behavioral Standards  

• Standards concerning one's self or personal standards  .

• Personal standards are fundamental to human motivation and performance. 

• Judging the goodness or worth of our behavior.

• Personal Goals – key concept relates to influencing change in our personalities. 

Social Cognitive Theory: Self-efficacy  

• Self-efficacy – expectation that people have their own capabilities for performance.

• If you can increase feelings of self-efficacy then a consequent increase in physical performance can be observed Baumeister et al. (2003), Bandura, & Locke (2003).

• TOK connection – “If you think you can do it or think you can’t do it, you’re right” Henry Ford. 

• Self-efficacy vs. Self Esteem  

  • Self-efficacy – what someone feels that they are able to achieve in a given setting.

  • Self esteem – a person's global evaluation of their personal worth.

Manipulating self-efficacy 

Performance accomplishments  

• Most potent antecedent (pervios or pre-existing factor) of self-efficacy.

• Performance profiling (Butler, Hardy 1992) – stems from Kelly’s work on personal construct psychology which emphasizes that psychologist need to try and understand the ways in which athletes perceive the world in which they train, live, and perform, it is the athlete’s view what makes them effective  

• Goal Setting – SMARTER, should include negative and positive goals.

Vicarious experiences  

• Consider how you would feel if you observed one of your peer groups successfully completing a task you were expected to perform.

• Described as modeling – seeing an example of how to complete a task can act as a stimulus to attempt an activity you might not have considered otherwise.  

• Negative Standpoint – acts of aggression – implication for the repetition of socially undesirable behaviors like bullying.

Persuasion  

• Comes from a high-status individual and is designed to encourage you to act in a particular way.  

Physiological State  

• The interpretation a performer makes of their physiological state before a performance.  

• Construct of attention: concentration (effortful awareness) – listening intently to your coach during timeout. 

• Selective Attention – ability to focus “zoom in” on relevant information and ignore distractors.  

• Ability to coordinate 2+ actions at the same time - checking the scoreboard and listening intently to the coach. 

• Negative impact – somatic standpoint (physical sensations experienced) – increases HR, dry mouth, butterflies, sweaty hands.

Albert Bandura

• was a psychologist who developed social learning theory. 

• He studied children in order to understand how they learn from others. 

• His studies showed that children imitate each other because they observe the actions of others and copy them. 

  • This process is called observational learning.

• Social learning theory explains human behavior through observation and imitation. 

• The theory states that humans learn socially, not just intellectually. 

  • This means we learn from our peers, parents, teachers, coaches, etc., rather than solely from books.

• Bandura's work led him to develop the concept of self-efficacy, which means confidence in one's ability to perform a task. 

• Self-efficacy influences behavior, including learning. 

  • The more confident we feel about our abilities, the more likely we are to try new things.

Conditions for Social Learning

Attention

• In behavioral theories, it is emphasized that individuals engaged in a knowledge acquisition model need to closely observe observable human learning behaviors. 

• Various factors can impede the observer's attention, such as distractions, illness, or fatigue. 

• In such cases, the observer may struggle to effectively learn and replicate the modeled behavior within the classroom model.

Retention

• In the view of social cognition theorists, the second requirement for observational learning is the retention of the observed behavior. If a student fails to memorize social behavior, the likelihood of replicating it in their classroom conduct diminishes.

Reproduction

• According to theorists focusing on child behavior and development, the process is intricate and involves both the mental and physical capacity of an individual to replicate observed behavior while performing a physical task. 

• For instance, a child might witness an adult basketball player shooting a ball into the basket. 

  • Subsequently, when the child has a basketball, they may attempt to shoot the ball like the adult player. 

  • However, due to the child's physical limitations compared to the adult player, repeated attempts may still not enable them to reach the basket. 

  • In contrast, a teenager or an adult might eventually succeed after considerable practice.

Motivation

• As per theorists focusing on child behavior and development, observational learning's most crucial knowledge acquisition opportunities arise from motivational factors. 

• In line with behavioral theories, the absence of motivation renders classroom model imitation ineffective, as no amount of reproduction, retention, or attention can compensate for the lack of motivational elements. 

• Classical Theory underscores the significance of motivational factors, including emotional experiences, punishments, and positive reinforcements, in driving motivation.

Albert Bandura’s Famous Bobo Doll Experiment

• He used the popular Bobo doll to perform 3 separate social cognition experiments involving vicarious reinforcement of a topic of societal concern. 

• In each experiment of vicarious reinforcement of society's concern, he observed the impact of vicarious experience of aggressive cognition toward the doll on the behavior of students who witnessed that aggressive behavior.

Interactionist Approach to Personality

• Main supporter – Kurt Lewin – most influential social psychologists of 20th century.

• Lewin suggested that neither nature (inborn tendencies) nor nurture (life experiences) can account for an individual’s behavior and personality. 

• Our personalities are developed through constant interaction between the person and their environment.

• Behavior = f(Person x Environment) – behavior changes as a result of manipulation on the environment.

  •  3 levels of our personality that interact

    • Psychological core

      • Most internal level

      • Thought to be “true self”

      • Most difficult to research

      • Stable and relatively constant over time

    • Typical responses

      • Changeable

      • Learned behaviors

      • Modified as person responds to environmental situations

      • Reflect the make up of the personality core

    • Role-related behavior

      • Most external level  

      • Dynamic and changeable  

      • May have to adjust to fulfill many different roles in one day  

      • Direct consequence of the immediate environment

• We base our behavior or inherent traits that we then adapt to the situation we are in.

• Social-cognitive approach – Walter Mischel – 4 personality variables

  • Competencies – our skills and knowledge. 

  • Encoding strategies – our particular style and the schemas we use in processing information. 

  • Expectancies – what we expect from our own behavior and our anticipations of our performance levels. 

  • Plans – what we intend to do. 

  • The interaction of these cognitive factors with environmental situations results in the expression of personality.

Issues associated with the measurement of personality

1. Data Collection

• LOTS

  • L-data – lifetime history 

    • IQ test, academic performance at school, achievements in other hobbies; where someone grew up, who raised them, family criminal records or use of illegal substances 

    • consider which data to use to build up a pattern of behavior over time to determine why individuals behave the way they do and why they made certain choices that affected their lives and lives of those related to.

  • O-data – observations from knowledgeable others including parents and friends 

    • collected using questionnaires designed to focus on a specific facet of the target individual’s personality

    • BASIC-ID – allows researcher to develop a considered picture of how an individual is functioning in a particular setting

    • things to consider – how reliable is the questionnaire, what are the biases of the people providing the information

  • T-data – experimental procedures and standardized tests; assess someone’s suitability for a specific occupational role

  • S-data – information provided by the client 

    • self report data can be inaccurate – individual may want you to evaluate them in a favorable light and present themselves more flattering though inaccurate – self-presentation 

    • inaccurate due to tendency among individuals referred to as denial – substance abuse problems or financial debt mounting can erect mental barriers to prevent them from assessing their true emotional and behavioral state

  • Data must be reliable – must understand the confidence limits of data working with 

• Interviews 

  • Are they reliable and valid? 

  • Are they of value in assessing a person’s sporting ability?

• Questionnaires 

  • psychometric self questionnaires 

  • personality tests 

  • Are they appropriate for what researchers want to gain?

• Observation 

  • difficult to remain unobstructive which will affect behavior 

  • secret observation is unethical

2. Validity and Reliability Issues  

3. Ethical Issues  

4. Confidentiality, use of results, prediction of performance

Evaluate the issues in personality research and sports performance

• Consider athlete vs. non-athlete: may discourage non-sports people from attempting sports that don’t “fit” their personality.  

• Personality and sport type: if a personality is assigned to a sport, those not demonstrating will be less likely to take up the sport as they do not think that they quit the stereotype of the sport.

• Predicting performance: implications of predicting performance, rather than it being a natural progression and taking into consideration environmental factors.
  

B.2 Motivation in Sport and Exercises

Motivation

• Internal mechanisms and external stimuli which arouse and direct our behavior.

• Direction and intensity of one’s effort.

  • Direction of effort – refers to whether an individual is attracted to, seeks out, or approaches certain situations 

  • Intensity – how much effort a person exerts in a particular situation 

• Internal process that activates, guides, and maintains behavior over time  

• “what gets you going, keeps you going, and determines where you're trying to go” 

Types of Motivation

• Intrinsic motivation 

  • comes from within the person 

  • associated with doing an activity for itself and for the pleasure and satisfaction derived from participation  

• Intrinsic motives 

  • Excitement 

  • Fun 

  • Enjoyment 

  • chance to improve skill  

• Extrinsic motivation – results from external rewards  

• Extrinsic motives 

  • Money 

  • Trophies 

  • Prizes 

  • Non-tangibles - praise, status

Issues associated with the use of Intrinsic and Extrinsic Motivators

• How do extrinsic rewards influence intrinsic motivation? 

  • Additive principle – intrinsic motivation can be boosted by extrinsic motivators; not always a good idea; the reward provides positive information with regard to the performer’s level of competence 

  • Extrinsic rewards seen as controlling of behavior 

  • Extrinsic rewards provide information about level of performance 

• Deci & Ryan (1985) proposed viewing motives as intrinsic or extrinsic was too simplistic and developed a continuum of motivation called self-determination theory.

• Intrinsic 

  • Player may lose interest 

  • difficult to maintain levels of interest  

• Extrinsic 

  • only want to play for material rewards 

  • decreases intrinsic motivation 

  • want to win, less focus is put on personal improvement 

  • more likely to avoid difficult competitions

Psychological needs that motivate human behavior 

• Autonomy – make our own decisions, be in control of one’s own behavior (exercise because you want to, not because you are told to do so)

• Competence – need to feel competent and able to accomplish things (master sports skill or improve expertise in activity)

• Relatedness – need to relate to others and feel a sense of belonging (being part of a team and feeling accepted and valued by teammates) 

Atkinson's model of Achievement Motivation

• Relates strongly to personality 

  • the degree to which a player accepts the prospect of a challenge in sport.

  • an individual's motivation to strive for success. 

  • The extent to which we approach and welcome challenge and competition, or avoid competitive situations.

• Motivation can be:  

  • Instinctive - a player always wants to compete regardless of the event.  

  • Nurtured through experience- a player can be confident and competitive in the event he/she has become successful in. 

  • Motivation is a balance between the motive to achieve success and the motive to avoid failure.  

  • In sports, athlete will enter approach-avoidance conflict – motivated by success but also by the fear of failure.

• Achievement Motivation = The desire to succeed – The fear of failure 

  • High AM – desire to succeed > fear of failure 

  • Low AM – fear of failure > desire to succeed

• NACH (Need to achieve) - welcome challenge and competition 

  • will take a penalty shot 

  • will be willing to take on tough competitors 

  • will be calm in limelight 

  • accept challenges 

  • demonstrate task persistence 

  • be quick and efficient 

  • take risks 

  • welcome feedback 

  • take personal responsibility for actions 

  • try harder after failure  

• NAF - avoid competitive situations (need to avoid failure) 

  • avoid volunteering for stressful situation 

  • wary of taking on tough competitors 

  • will volunteer others as they will be too nervous 

  • avoid responsibility 

  • take an easy option 

  • give up after failure

Example: In a football final the score is 1-1 and a last-minute penalty is awarded. 

The player who refuses to take the penalty fears he/she may fail; losing self-esteem. He has the motive to avoid failure (Naf).

The player who wants to take the penalty wants the glory and is driven by the motive to succeed; gaining self esteem. He has the motive to achieve success (Nach).

• Autonomous competence stage: 

  • up to 5 years of age 

  • not concerned if anyone else can do the skill better  

• Social comparison stage: 

  • from 6 years old 

  • when a child starts to compare with others 

  • might be uncomfortable with competition  

• Integrated stage: 

  • sees both external and internal standards to evaluate performance

Goal Orientation Theory

• Achievement Goal Theory refers to how people evaluate/judge their competence/ability and define successful accomplishments. 

  • It refers to personal interpretations they have about what achievement means to them within a specific task.  

• Ability can be viewed based upon two states of goal involvement – task involvement and ego involvement.  

• Task involvement – Individuals focus on mastering the task, learning skills, exerting effort, and self improvement.  

• Ego-Involvement: Individuals focus on demonstrating superior ability compared to others, as well as winning in competitions with less effort than others.  

• According to this theory, three factors combine to determine motivation: 

  • Achievement goals 

  • Perceived ability 

  • Achievement behavior  

• Ego-Oriented Behavior: measure their success based on beating others and being the best (Extrinsic motivation)  

• Task-Oriented Behavior: measure their success against themselves, how well they complete a task (personal bests) (Intrinsic motivation)
  

Attribution Theory and Its application to sport and exercise

• Focuses on reasons people use to explain their successes and failures (winning and losing). 

• The perceived causes of event and behavior.  

• Important in sport because it affects future effort and therefore performance.  

• Original Classification (Heider, 1058) for attributions for success and failure: ability, effort, task difficulty, luck.

• Weiner (1985) classification categories: locus of stability (stable vs. unstable), locus of causality (internal vs. external), and locus of control (under control vs. not under our control)

Locus of Causality

• Internal/external dimension  

• Assesses the extent to which the reasons for success or failure are due to the personal control of the performer.  

• Internal – within the performer’s control and it is felt that some personal influence is exerted on the outcome; due to personal factors - effort and ability; amount of effort a performer puts in might be one example.

• External reasons – out of the performer’s control and might exert little influence in the future; due to external factors – luck, chance; example – referee’s decision

Stability  

• Stable/unstable dimension  

• Stable reasons – based on past experience; reasons for success or failure that are unlikely to change in the short term; relatively permanent; examples -0 teach coach who is unlikely to charge for a season, fact you’ve won six time against this opponent already this season, we are likely to do it again.  

• Unstable reasons – changeable in the short term and even within the game; amount of luck. 

Learned Helplessness  

• A problem that occurs in athletes when reasons for failure are attributed to internal factors which can not be changed (lack of ability).  

• Performers with learned helplessness believe that failure is inevitable.  

• Believe that success is due to lunch and not repeatable. 

• Can be caused by lack of success, low confidence, nor bad experience. 

• A performer with learned Helplessness may give up easy . 

• Shame can also lead to learned helplessness as player’s self esteem decreases.

Task and Ego Orientation in Sport Questionnaire (TEOSQ)

• Task orientation – positively related to effort, enjoyment, persistence, satisfaction, and interest

• Ego orientation – negatively associated with enjoyment and interest; positively related to boredom 

• Task oriented individuals more intrinsically motivated vs. ego oriented individuals. 

Motivational Climate

• Perceived motivational climate influences an individual’s thoughts, feelings, and achievement behavior. 

• Consistent with task and ego goal orientations, two climates have been found dominant in sports and education: performance (ego) climate and mastery (task) climate.

• Performance Climate

  • comparison with others is most important source of information for self-evaluation. 

  • focus on winning and improvement is of little to no significance. 

  • perceptions have been associated with high levels of worry, a focus on competitive ability, and a preoccupation with enhancing one’s social status.

• Mastery Climate

  • performance is evaluated in terms of personal mastery and improvement and not in comparison to others.

  • perceptions of this climate are related to task goal orientation, intrinsic motivation, preference for challenging tasks and beliefs that success is due to effort. 

  • positive attitude, high satisfaction, low boredom and anxiety, high self-rated improvement, also associated with perceptions of a mastery climate. 

• Dimensions of achievement situations that influence motivational climate: TARGET – task, authority, recognition, grouping, evaluation, time structures

• Combining motivational climate theory with attribution theory helps us understand why a perceived mastery of a motivational climate has consistently been associated with positive motivational outcomes.

B.3 Mental Preparation for Sport: Anxiety, Arousal, and Performance

Arousal

• is an alertness or state of readiness (ranging from deep sleep to intense alertness) of the body for an action.

• It is neutral and can be triggered by both pleasant/positive and unpleasant/negative situations. 

• It is how motivated/interested/excited an athlete is prior to and throughout the performance. 

• Continuum ranging from a very deep sleep-like state to excessive and uncontrolled activation of numerous body systems that may cause a panic attack.

• Autonomic arousal

  • immediate response to a stressor 

  • sympathetic Nervous System (SNS) closes down non-essential physiological systems 

  • accelerate fight or flight responses 

Theoretical Approaches to Arousal

Drive Reduction Theory

• Developed by Clark Hull (1943) 

• 1st theory for motivation 

• States that humans are motivated to reduce the state of tension caused when certain biological needs are not satisfied

• Helps explain behaviors that have strong biological components 

• Example: driven to drink a glass of water to reduce the sensation of thirst 

Inverted-U Hypothesis

• For complex tasks there was an optimal level of arousal above and below which performance levels would decrease.

• Theory – arousal is increased then performance improved, but only to a point.

Catastrophe Theory

• “choking” 

• Pressure seems insurmountable and athletes will fall victim to not performing tasks. 

• Interaction between physiological arousal and cognitive anxiety.

• Sudden shifts in behavior arising from small changes in circumstances.

• Why it occurs is not yet known. 

Inverted-U Theory

Catastrophe Theory

Drive Theory

Anxiety

• Anxiety is a negative emotion of apprehension and tension (stress) which includes irrational thoughts, fear of failure, self-doubt and worry.

Cognitive Anxiety

• Characterized by thoughts and perceptions of worry/doubt and negative expectations (mind), about performance, self-evaluation, & evaluation by others.

  • Negative effect

    • Confusion/irrational thoughts

    • Lack of concentration 

    • Nervousness 

    • Apprehension

  • Positive Effect

    • Faster information processing 

    • Increased attention 

• Somatic Anxiety

  • Relates our perceptions of our bodily state (physiological arousal).

  • Provide signals to individuals they are anxious about.

• Trait Anxiety

  • Innate

  • Relatively enduring disposition that causes people at the high end of the continuum to view a wide range of non-dangerous circumstances as threatening.

• State Anxiety

  • Situation

  • Temporary negative emotion of apprehensiveness and tension experienced in threatening situations and is situation specific.

Evaluate how anxiety is measured

• Both state and trait anxiety affect performance; psychologists have therefore tried to devise ways of measuring a person’s state and trait anxiety.

• Ex: Physiological measures of somatic anxiety (measurement of heart rate, muscle tension, sweating)

• Observation 

• Questionnaires

• SCAT (Sport Competition Anxiety Test) (Martens, 1977)

  • Aimed to find out which competitors are likely to become too anxious in a competitive situation.

  • Scoring from a sport specific situation gives an indication of that person’s level of state anxiety in competition-specific situations.

  • Four factors are related to competitive anxiety:

    • Individual differences in how performers interact with different situations - some events are more important than o athers and therefore cause more anxiety

    • The different types of anxiety (state and trait) that a performer experiences 

    • A specific anxiety trait that only occurs in competitive situations.

    • The competition itself, which involves interaction between the performer's personality traits, their own competitive trait anxiety and the specific situation involved

• CSAI - 2

  • Measured three components: cognitive, somatic, self-efficacy.

  • Given out before competition but more than once, such as a week before, a day before, and half an hour before this.

  • Enables researchers to discover baseline levels of anxiety and compare it with pre-competition levels to see if they differ.

• STAI (State-Trait Anxiety Inventory)

  • Is a self-report questionnaire in which people rate how nervous they feel both in general and in specific situations.

  • The scoring system for the questions gives an indication of both the state anxiety and the trait anxiety of the performer.

Stress Process in Sport

• Stress is a process that involves one’s perception of an imbalance between the demands of the environment (physical and/or psychological)and one’s response capability (response), under conditions where failure to meet the demands.

B.4 Psychological Skill Training

• systematic and consistent practice of mental or psychological skills

• individually designed combination of methods selected to attain psychological skill needs

• no single PST package, each program must be individualized based on psychological state of the individual and the sport 

• to assemble a successful PST program, one must distinguish between PST skills and PST methods

  • PST skills – psychological qualities or attributes that need to be developed – confidence, concentration

  • PST method – tool that will be used to improve the PST skill

    • Goal Setting

    • Mental Imagery 

    • Relaxation Techniques

    • Self-Talk

  • Sports Psychologist will employ more than one method to be more effective with implementing a PST program

• PST is:

  • Learnable

  • Should benefit everyone who is in a performance setting

  • Should complement other preparations 

• PST is not:

  • Just for elite athletes

  • Just for problem athletes

  • A quick fix solution 

• 3 phases of Psychological Skill Training

  • Education 

  • Acquisition 

  • Practice

Outline Goal Setting

• Goal setting helps with motivation to the individual and also can give self confidence to the individual.

• SMARTER Goal 

  • Specific

  • Measurable

  • Achievable

  • Realistic

  • Timely

  • Evaluate

  • Review

• Set a combination of outcome, performance, and process goals. 

  • Outcome Goals 

    • Results or objectives to be achieved

    • Involves comparisons with others 

    • Example

      • I want to win the game

      • Beat the number 1 seed.

      • Get selected for the All-star team

  • Performance Goals

    • Some measure of personal performance.

    • Example:

      • I want to make 8/10 (80%) tackles in a game.

      • Run the race in a given time.

      • Keep the pitch count to 60. 

      • Throw no interceptions. 

  • Action / Process Goals

    • Things that need to be done to achieve desired outcomes.

    • Examples:

      • I will practice my tackling 20 times a session

      • Create a race plan

      • Positive mental imagery

      • Quality training program

• Outcome goals give direction while action goals move us in that given direction.

Evaluate Mental Imagery

• Mental imagery - A symbolic sensory experience that may occur in any sensory mode.

• Mental rehearsal  

  • The employment of imagery to mentally practice an act 

  • A technique 

• Issues when developing imagery skills 

  • Using all the senses

  • Internal/external imagery

  • Imagery control

• Imagery uses

  • Improve technique

  • While injured

  • Learning a new skill

  • Motivational issues

Relaxation Techniques

• Can promote both physical and cognitive relaxation. 

• Centering

  • A term often associated with meditation.

  • Taking time to be in the moment, to focus, to calm yourself.

• Progressive Muscular Relaxation (PMR)

  • 5,7, or 20 body areas

  • Contract for 5 seconds and relax. Repeat 5X 

  • Pair the sensation to a clear blue sky

• Meditation

Self-talk Techniques

• An internal dialogue

• Content

• Positive-negative